


A Sign of Friendship

by Megane



Category: Catherine (Video Game)
Genre: Bisexual Character, Bonding, Cat's Out the Bag, Drunken Confessions, Drunkenness, Friendship, Internal Conflict
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-11
Updated: 2015-01-11
Packaged: 2018-03-07 02:56:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3158627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Megane/pseuds/Megane
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Vincent and Jonny are hanging around The Stray Sheep a bit close to closing time. They sit; they talk; they drink. Jonny talks a bit more about himself; Vincent sits back and listens.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Sign of Friendship

**Author's Note:**

> It's 04:50AM, gaddamn. I've been wanting to write a Catherine story forever, and this was the last thing I expected. Aaaaaaaaaaaaugh, if it sucks, I'm sorry.

The bar was damn near empty by now. Aside from Boss and Erica, the bar was full of a couple of stragglers: a cop, an accountant, Vincent, and –

            “Jonny?”

Vincent furrowed his brows as he stared down at the wispy haired brunet. Jonny muttered a curse and stabbed out his cigarette. Jonny placed the back of his hand against his mouth, staring off towards Boss’ bar. Vincent swayed awkwardly – part drunk and part... well, awkward. Jonny glanced back up to Vincent after a terse moment of silence. He stared at his friend before sighing through his nose.

            “Well. You gonna sit down?”

            “Yeah. Yeah.”

Vincent pulled his hands out of his pockets and clambered into the seat across from Jonny. The older male looked strung out, and honestly, it was the worst Vincent had seen him in a while. He was a little worried. Vincent folded his arms on the table and leaned forward.

            “You alright?”

            “Hm?” Jonny perked up, like he was just now aware that Vincent was there. He reached up a hand and slid his fingers through his hair. “Yeah, ah. I’m just not getting any sleep.”

            “Toby driving you up the wall?” Vincent went for a joke.

            Thankfully, Jonny took it. “Yeah, amongst other things.”

            “Like what?”

            “Like _you_.” The car dealer pointed out. “Like the merger and Orlando.” Jonny reached out a hand towards the ashtray but withdrew it once he remembered his cigarette was out. “Hell, like Erica every now and again. Sometimes, I dunno. You ever think we go too far with how we talk to her, _about_ her? Every time we bring up her past, she looks at us like she’s gonna run away all over again.”

            “She wouldn’t do that.”

            “You sound too sure.” The car dealer stared down at his hands. “I dunno. I’ve been thinking about _everything_ a lot lately.”

Vincent wasn’t sure how to react. Jonny was usually a reserved sort of guy. Nothing really seemed to bother him, but tonight, he was frazzled. He was talking more, even though it didn’t look like he had the energy for it. Vincent had seen the other brunet down on his luck a few times before. This looked to be a repeat of one of those times. Vincent took a deep breath. The action mirrored by the other male across from him.

            “Why did you do it?” Jonny’s voice was flatter than usual. “I mean, you and Katherine weren’t a flawless couple. Even now, you’re still a little pathetic.”

            “Hey now. Don’t be rude.” Vincent reached up a hand and tugged at his left ear.

Jonny smirked. Vincent’s own smile was sheepish but genuine. He was a little relieved. Looks like there was still a trace of the smooth talking, sometimes too direct, brunet in there somewhere.

            “But you guys worked it out. You were so stuck on Katherine, and as much as she acts likes a cold-hearted woman, she’s got a thing for you too. It’s not my place to say if you guys are a good match for each other or not. Something like that is for you to decide.”

            Vincent huffed out a laugh through his nose and nodded his head. “Just pile on the responsibility, why don’t you, but yeah. You’re right...”

Jonny watched his friend. His fingers curled against the tabletop, nails scraping the surface. When Vincent's attention was drawn to his hand, Jonny splayed out his fingers. The conversation dwindled down into a combined silence of comfort and awkwardness. Again. Erica swung by and placed a hand behind Vincent, asking the two what they wanted.

            “Sake.” “Beer.”

The redhead nodded and tottered off. Once she returned and put the drinks down, she gave the two a curious look.

            “You boys alright?”

            “We will be in a bit.” Vincent waved a hand before focusing on his beer. “Just... give us a minute. Okay?”

Erica hummed and stepped away reluctantly. Jonny watched her from under his fringe then wrapped his fingers around his sake. Vincent’s eyes lowered to the drink before drifting over to the other shot glasses in front of Jonny. He was in the middle of lifting up his beer glass, but upon seeing Jonny’s fold, he lowered the glass down.

            “You usually don’t drink this heavy before work.” Vincent rested his left arm on the table, rubbing his thigh with his right hand. “We’re usually looking to you to be the responsible one.”

Jonny chuckled and turned his head, scratching his thumb with his nose. Vincent watched the movements unsteadily. He was feeling the buzz come over him.

            “If that’s the case,” Jonny started, “then you all had better step up your game.”

            Vincent chuckled and tipped his head down. “Right, right.”

He placed his hands on the table again. He framed the bottle between his forearms. The cold chill of the bottle ran up his spine. Jonny pressed his lips against his glass. Vincent decided to jump right into it.

            “So... what was that about – y’know – what you said about me and Katherine?”

There came the deep sigh. Jonny sighed a lot, especially when his friends disagreed with his debatably workaholic tendencies – especially when his friends had questionable stories to share with him. Jonny reached up a hand and rubbed between his eyebrows. The alcohol, thankfully, was helping with his headache.

            Jonny glanced over his friend. “Things aren’t working out with my girl. She’s getting really distant, and I can’t talk to her. I don’t know what’s wrong. It made me think about your rough patch with Katherine. And Orlando’s not exactly the best person to bring up relationships around.”

            A dull noise of agreement. “As much as we tease the kid, Toby seems to be doing the best out of all of us.” Vincent knocked back his beer, tongue heavy with the after taste.

            The other replied with a mix of humour... and something else. “Isn’t that something?” Jonny took a sip from his cup.

After that, time passed. Neither man was sure how much. Maybe ten seconds – maybe ten minutes. After so many drinks, Vincent _really_ felt the calming haze of alcohol run through his body.

            “How do you go on believing in true love?” the question fumbled out of Vincent’s lips.

Jonny lazily lifted his head up and stared at his friend with half-lidded eyes. He sucked the inside of his cheek as though thinking. He blinked, lashes fluttering quickly.

            “I don’t know. I just...” Jonny shook his head, leaving him in that oh too familiar way. Vincent couldn’t fight the quirk of his lips. “I wanna get married one day. I just, I really do. Maybe there’s something about spending the rest of my life with the one I love. No more worries, no more games.”

He lifted up a hand and pulled open his jacket, pulling out a pack of cigarettes. He offered it to Vincent, who muttered a thank you and plucked one. The wild haired brunet joked that maybe they shouldn’t handle fire when they’re both drunk. Jonny just chuckled and lit both sticks up.

            “Besides, I’m getting too old to worry about petty things like that. Maybe it won’t last forever, the relationship I get into, but I want to feel like they’re worth it. Even in high school, some of the guys I dated were –”

            “Whoa... wait."

Both men froze. Well, that was out there now. There goes that secret. Jonny flicked up his brows and took a drag. Vincent held his cigarette between two long fingers.

            “Guys? You, uh. You never brought that up before. How come you never...?”

Jonny brought his cigarette between his lips and closed his eyes, shrugging up his shoulders.

            “It didn’t seem to matter, after a while. Honestly, I wanted to tell you guys from the start.” He tapped his cigarette above the ashtray. “But you know how we were. We were scatterbrained, young shitheads. I didn’t think about myself back then. Erica... before she disappeared back then, she found out. She’s known for the longest. That’s what makes me feel guilty when we, er, you know.” He moved a hand vaguely.

Vincent nodded silently. Maybe the alcohol was messing with his emotions. He was reeling from the news. His best friend was – er, _is_ – bisexual, at least. Not wanting to think about it, Vincent grabbed his bottle and knocked back the rest of his drink. The quick motion made him nauseous. He probably shouldn’t have moved that recklessly. He gazed at his cigarette and took a more careful drag. It was probably a bad idea to chase one with the other.

            “I didn’t mean to let it slip. As time passed, I guess I just stopped being afraid of that judgment. By then, we graduated high school; Erica became a magician, and I just figured it didn’t matter. I’ve been secure with who I am for years now, Vincent. The fact that you didn’t know just slipped my mind. I didn’t feel a need to broadcast it, I guess. Once I got past the fear, everything just seemed normal.”

Vincent had smoked through Jonny’s story. He flared his nostrils and blew the smoke out his nose, a trick he only pulled every now and again. Vincent licked his lips. Jonny sighed. The lankier male took a moment to speak.

             “That’s... great. I mean, congratulations?”

            “You don’t need to congratulate someone for not being straight, Vincent,” Jonny mumbled against his cigarette.

            “Sorry...”

            “It’s okay.” Jonny turned his head away. “I think I know what you’re saying.”

            “Heh, at least someone does.” Vincent took a drag and leaned his head back, gently blowing the smoke into the air. “Would you marry a dude?”

            “If I could? I dunno. I don’t really feel as drawn to guys like I did when I was young. It’s there, the attraction, but most of the time, these days...” Jonny placed his cigarette between his lips and lifted his body up. He fished for something and produced his wallet. He sat on his ass shortly after. “After hanging with you guys, I wouldn’t mind if I never hooked up with a man again.”

            Vincent snorted and rolled his eyes. “Psht, we’re the nicest piece of ass you’re probably gonna get.” He waved a hand vaguely. “You know, if you weren’t stuck in a fairytale movie.”

            “What’s wrong with a good fairytale every now and again?”

Their eyes met. Vincent stared into those bleach brown eyes and was just happy that his friend was just here again. Jonny had been stressed, and none of them knew about it. If only because Jonny never talked about, well, anything. Vincent didn’t think about it bitterly. He knew there was no way to the brunet to let go of some of his problems. It was a shame, but that’s just how the guy was. He wondered what else there was that he didn’t know.

He reached up a hand to scratch behind his left ear.

            “Toby says you’re a cool guy. Now I’m starting to see how he got the impression.”

            Jonny tipped his head away and blew the smoke towards the half wall. “That so?”

            “Don’t get too excited. You’re still a stone faced bastard to me.”

            The car dealer chuckled and lifted both eyebrows briefly. “I’m hurt.”

            “You called me pitiful earlier.”

            “ _Pathetic_ ,” Jonny corrected, voice soft and playful. A sign he was just teasing, “but same thing, you know.”

            “Gee. _Thanks._ ”

Jonny cocked up a brow and shrugged a shoulder, taking a deep drag from his cigarette. Vincent did the same. When the sticks were just nubs, they stamped them out in the ashtray and stood from the booths together.

            “Finally going?” Erica turned in her seating, elbow resting on the bar.

            Vincent nodded his head. “Yeah, we’re heading out.”

The redhead stared at the two of them. The colour in their cheeks and the slight sway, even when they were standing up — she knew that they were as good as drunk. No, _wasted_. She reached up a hand and pressed her fingertips between her brows.

            “Just please, _please_ be careful you two. You’re not just drunk; you’re completely trashed.”

            “We know already,” Vincent groaned, waving off Erica’s, secretly appreciated, worry. “We’ll be careful.”

            “You better.” There was supposed to be some bite to her remark, but Erica couldn’t hide it. She exposed her raw concern.

            Jonny nudged him with his elbow. “C’mon. Let’s get out of here.”

            “Yeah,” Vincent practically whispered it. He was losing control of his volume.

Both Jonny and Erica noticed. Jonny placed a hand on Vincent’s back, guiding him towards the front door. He wasn’t too steady on his feet either, but he had to fulfill his role as the “responsible one”. Vincent pulled a hand out of his pocket and deftly clapped his hand on his friend’s back in response. Yeah, they needed to get out of here, get home, and pass out like the sorry, drunk schmucks they were. But as long as those dreams didn’t come tonight, Vincent wouldn’t regret it. He might have even strengthened a bond with his best friend.

Jonny curled his fingers against Vincent’s back as the chill of the night brushed against their skin. Vincent hailed a cab, jutting his hand into the air. The older male side glanced to his own friend.

Yeah, they strengthened their bond as best friends, but why did Jonny feel as though that string was being pulled tight? He sighed and thrust his hand up into the air, helping Vincent flag down a driver. Vincent tucked himself into the cab, grinning stupidly once he was in. Jonny followed. The two spoke in unison as they slurred their addresses.

What lay ahead would be forged on the foundation of tonight – for better or for worse – between the two of them.


End file.
